Article Title：A gradualist theory of discovery in ecology
Abstract：
The distinction between the context of discovery and the context of justification restricts philosophy of science to the rational reconstruction of theories, and characterizes scientific discovery as rare, theoretical upheavals that defy rational reconstruction. Kuhnian challenges to the two contexts distinction show that non-rational elements persist in the justification of theories, but go no further to provide a positive account of discovery. A gradualist theory of discovery developed in this paper shows, with support from ecological cases, that discoveries are routinely made in ecology by extending models to new domains, or by making additions to earlier models. The logic of discovery is philosophically accessible once it is appreciated that model truth is presumed, even if counterfactually, in ecologists' application of models. A gradualist view shows that models' heuristic power routinely leads to discoveries.
Keywords: context of discovery; context of justification; ecology; heuristic power; heuristics; island biogeography; logic of scientific discovery; models; rational reconstruction; scientific discovery; semantic conception; two contexts distinction
DOI: 10.1023/A:1011950525922
Source：BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY
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